Summary
Located: San Francisco, CA
Founded: 2000
Mission: It is our mission to ensure high academic achievement for every student by attracting and preparing outstanding leaders and supporting the performance of the urban public schools they lead at scale.
Story:
New Leaders for New Schools, is a nonprofit that trains aspiring principals to work in urban school districts with low test scores and high concentrations of poor and minority students. In less than a decade, New Leaders has already placed reform-minded principals and school leaders in over 500 inner-city schools nationwide. Have you heard about how New Leaders for New Schools got started? The organization was founded in 2000 by a team of social entrepreneurs, including former school administrators, teachers, business leaders, and education policy experts: Jonathan Schnur, policy adviser in the Clinton Administration where he served as White House Associate Director for Educational Policy, Vice President Gore’s senior advisor on education, and special assistant to U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley; Ben Fenton, former management consultant at McKinsey & Co.; Mike Johnston, former Teach for America corps member; Allison Gaines, former New York City public school teacher; and Monique Burns, an education-reform advocate specializing in charter schools. In May 2000, their submission to Harvard Business School’s annual business plan contest became the first nonprofit to be named a finalist out of 50 entries. Funding offers followed, and by the end of June, New Leaders for New Schools was incorporated with Schnur as CEO, Fenton as COO, and Burn as Chief Curriculum Officer. In 2001, New Leaders for New Schools launched its program in New York City and Chicago with 13 New Leaders. By September 2009, New Leaders for New Schools will have over 600 school leaders impacting over 200,000 students in our nation’s poorest performing schools. (Learn more about New Leaders for New Schools at:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Leaders_for_New_Schools)
Leadership:
Jon Schnur. Jon works with the New Leaders for New School’s team and community to accomplish our mission: driving high levels of learning and achievement for every student by attracting, preparing, and supporting the next generation of outstanding principals for our nation’s urban schools. Since co-founding New Leaders for New Schools, he has led the development of the organization’s strategy, management team and board, core values, performance metrics, partnerships, and fundraising. From September 2008 to June 2009, Jon took leave from New Leaders for New Schools, serving as an advisor to Barack Obama’s Presidential campaign, a member of the Presidential Transition Team, and a Senior Advisor to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. Before co-founding New Leaders for New Schools, Jon served as Special Assistant to Secretary of Education Richard Riley, President Clinton’s White House Associate Director for Educational Policy, and Senior Advisor on Education to Vice President Gore. He has developed national education policies from preschool to higher education – with special focus on teacher and educator quality, reforming urban school systems, charter schools, after-school programs, and early learning and preschools. Jon graduated from Princeton University with honors, took graduate coursework at Harvard’s Business School, Graduate School of Education, and Kennedy School, and graduated from a Wisconsin public high school. He lives in Montclair, New Jersey with his wife Elisa and their children Matthew, Elizabeth and Philip.
Expert Reviews
Evidence of Impact Summary
New Leaders receives praise from experts due to its ability to recruit and train leaders for underserved schools and districts throughout the country.
See expert comments.
Organization Strengths Summary:
Nearly every expert respondent expressed the belief the leadership is a major strength for this organization.
See expert comments.
Areas for Improvement Summary:
Multiple experts noted impact as an area for improvement. Others mentioned areas like funding as scalability as worth of enhancement.
See expert comments.
Financial Data
Overhead Ratio: n/a
Total Revenue: $41,965,516
